Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread: August 26 ~ September 1, 2018

[ReneeT]

Good Morning, All! Hope everyone is having a good day today!

I was busy with boys yesterday - little one called around 0600 and woke me up to tell me it was Saturday so he could come to my house I'm thinking his Mama put him up to it... I didn't get to their house until 0900 - gotta be well caffienated when I'm dealing with those two!

The boys and I had to moderate our activities just a bit as the little one ended up in ER Thursday evening with a boil on his butt that had looked like a tiny pimple during his Wednesday night bath but had enlarged and had the whole right cheek of his bottom red by the time he got home from school on Thursday. They did an I&D and put him on an antibiotic for his staph infection, so it's now just a small area of redness and the incision site. This is my rough and tumble boy who has to explore everything - he'd managed to get the old storm cellar door partially open at their current house the other day - so scrapes and scratches are a part of his normal appearance. I'm just going to keep an eye on him, watch for a temp spike/increasing redness/pain, use warm compresses for any swelling, and pump him full of iron rich foods; he had eggs, whole wheat toast and grape juice for breakfast, and is munching on some dried apricots as he plays.

Our day started out with a trip to the nearby orchard to pick up another half bushel of peaches; the Gala apples are starting to ripen so we picked up a peck of those as well. And apple cider donuts. And apple cider slushies.... Got home, older boy wanted to play tablet, younger one wanted to go outside and dig holes but settled for playing with every toy in his room - note to self: reduce number of toys! It was cloudy and did rain off and on, so we mostly stayed inside to reduce temptation for the little one to go play in mud puddles - I did have to promise them that they could have a water balloon battle in the yard today once it warms up! Later on, we met Hubby in town and went out for supper - large enough portions that we carried home enough for lunch today. The boys and I zipped in to CVS to pick up some deoderant for Hubby - picked up 4 containers @ $4.99 each, but on sale buy one, get one 50% off so $15 total minus a scanner coupon for $2 off any personal care purchase. Paid $13 + tax; got back a $5 Extra Care Buck.

We all stopped at Dollar General on the way home from town; I used my $5 off $25 purchase coupon plus some other coupons, and we shopped the sales - Hubby stocked up on canned soup and pudding cups for his lunches, I picked up 2 more packages of laundry detergent for daughter, added to the OTC med stock a bit, and snagged 5 Hershey bars in case we got the opportunity to make S'mores this weekend - which is looking somewhat doubtful today as the temp is supposed to get into the 90's and it's muggy as all get out already; can't see any of us being interested in standing near a fire!

Well, we had some company drop by, then had to change grandson's dressing as it bled through, did some laundry, checked out the sale ads, filled hummingbird feeders, blah blah blah.... then Hubby got on the computer and said "Do I need to leave this up?" in re: this post - oops, guess I got distracted!

I did find a few decent sales that I'll try to take advantage of this week - I found $1/4 coupons Libby canned veggie coupons; Dollar General has them on sale 2/$1, so that will take them down to 25 cents/can. I have 3 coupons so that will mean I can buy 12 cans at that price. I will use the coupons to buy 6 cans each of whole kernal and cream style corn to use in my corn cassarole recipe; the recipe makes a 9x13 pan which is way too much for just the two of us, so I divide it up in to two or three pans, bake one and freeze the others for later use. That will be a year's worth for us.

I will probably wait until Friday or Saturday to pick up the Libby's veggies at Dollar General as I have 2 - $5 off $25 paper coupons plus a $5/$25 in app coupon good on Friday, and another in app $5/$25 coupon good on Saturday. The Buy 2/Get 1 Free soup deal is still on, and I'm looking for other coupons I can use on items in their sale ad that we use. I'm also hoping I can pick up some clearanced gardening things like potting soil, planters, and Miracle Grow.

CVS has another Boost deal; the High Protein version is on sale for $7.99 (regular is $6.99); buy four, get a $5 Extra Care Buck. Here is how this deal will work:
4 - Boost High Protein @ $8 = $32
Use:
4 - $2/1 Boost coupons = $8
1 - $4 off $20 Boost scanner coupon
1 - $8 Extra Care Buck (rec'd from previous Boost purchase)
1 - $5 Extra Care Buck (from P&G, stocking up on Hubby's preferred deoderant yesterday)
1 - $3 Extra Care Buck from a home mailer
Total: $28
Will pay $4 plus tax out of pocket, and get back $5 Extra Care Bucks.

CVS has Hershey's snack size bags of candy on sale for $2.99, get a $1 Extra Care Buck; and there is supposed to be a $1 coupon floating around but I didn't see one in the coupon inserts in the papers Co-worker buddy brought me today so that one is a big Maybe. They have Hershey or Nestle singles 2/$1; but Walgreen's has Nestle singles for 39 cents so I will probably just hit CVS for Hershey brand and Walgreen's for Nestle - I keep a goodie bag in my locker at work for co-workers; last Thursday I found $14 in a magnetic clip on the inside of my locker door, and a sprinkling of change in the bag - must have been a little work-related stress last week I will put it toward the cost of refilling the bag. I go on vacation again starting the 4th of September so I'd better have it stocked before I go!

There are several laundry detergent sales this week - All 30-50 oz and Oxi-Clean 40 oz are both on sale for $2.99 and there is supposed to be a $1 coupon in the inserts this week; I wish I could find an unscented version of Oxi-clean because I just really can't handle whatever scent it is they use in their detergent. There are several different Proctor and Gamble deals with Tide and Gain; I'm still working out where to find the best deal on these but it has be somewhere that carries unscented versions. I'm slowly rotating my older laundry detergent out through daughter's business, so am replacing it with unscented detergents as I go along. The unscented versions would also be better to use in a SHTF situation where you might not want folks to be able to catch your scent from a distance...

Guess I'd better close this and get to filling some water balloons - the troops are getting restless! Take care all; stay safe!

 

[moldy]

Ugh-- detergent! I need to get some homemade made up. I'm almost thru my stash of store bought, and I"m trying to use up what we have on hand (for every thing!). DH is mulling a position change. I know what I hope he chooses, but i"m not posting since I know he looks on here - and i"m not the one that has to deal with the consequences of what he chooses. As long as he's happy, I'm happy!

Need to get some corn done up today, and take some cider to the orchard owner. I'll harvest some linden while i"m there - should have done it weeks ago! Some folks we shared corn with brought me some zucchini, so I'll fix it somehow today. Saturday night, I went to the local fish fry to benefit fallen officers. I think I"ll have to go to more of those. Great time, great food, benefit to the community while hanging out with friends and co-workers. Can't be beat! THanks for the idea, Renee!

 

[ReneeT]

Hope Hubby's choice is the same one that makes you happy, Moldy! Yes, even though I'm happiest when I'm at home, I'm a big fan of local fundraisers: good food, good company - and if you choose your fundraisers carefully - time spent around like minded folks! I'd rather donate than be taxed

Hit CVS to do the Boost deal today after pool torture - err, aqua aerobics; although I couldn't use the $3 mailer coupon as it could not be used with any other CVS coupon. Had gone into the CVS in daughter's town to do the deal last evening but they didn't have enough of the type Hubby wanted. I did scan my card though, and ended up with some other coupons I could use, including a $10 off $50 purchase. I couldn't use it with any other $x off $x purchase coupon though, so I paged through the ad to see if there was anything else we needed. Hubby mentioned he was out of his caffeine free Coke and that he'd brought the last 12 pk of root beer up from the basement... So after I did the Boost deal, I did this one:
3 - 12 pk decaf Coke @ 3/$10 = $10
6 - 12 pk A&W @ 3/$10 = $20
1 - Tide detergent @ $5.94
1 - All detergent @ $2.99
1 - Tide pods @ $4.94
14 - assorted Hershey brand candy bars @ 2/$1 = $7
Total: $50.87
Used:
$10 off $50 purchase
$2 off Tide liquid
$2 off Tide pods
$1 off All detergent
Total: $15
Paid $35 out of pocket, and have $10.88 toward a Proctor and Gamble 'Spend $20, Get $5 ECB' deal

I also did find the Hershey coupon in the inserts so was able to buy one bag of Reese's peanut butter cups for $2.99, used the $1 coupon, paid $1.99 and got back a $1 Extra Care buck. I will pop in to CVS on my way home from work Tue/Wed or when I go in on Friday to do my competencies toward the P&G deal - I'll buy one Tide detergent @ $5.94, use a $2 coupon plus the $3 mailer coupon; then buy Tide pods @ $4.94 and use a $2 coupon plus the $1 ECB; that will finish out that deal and I will get a $5 ECB.

 

[Deena in GA]

What a breath of fresh air to read these posts! Thanks! I am so tired of all the stuff on news and even our front page and was wishing there was more prepping and/or homesteading things to read. Then I remembered and realized I hadn't visited those sub-forums in way too long. I'm definitely going to have to pay more attention to the Walgreens, CVS and Dollar General ads after reading your deals! Need to remember to check back here regularly.

Our garden this year was a total washout - and I mean that literally. We managed to get one tomato and one squash from it. Nothing else. Heartbreaking! We just had way too much rain and way too many animals eating what was there. Even our fruit trees got stripped by the squirrels before we could harvest anything. Like I said, heartbreaking.

We did find canned chicken on sale bogo this week at Publix and bought 16 cans of that to help restock and what made it even better was that it has 28% extra free, so the cans are 12.5 oz. Hubby won't let me can meat, so this is what we do. Also, the Aldi's we shop had canned kidney beans on sale for $.45 a can, so we bought another case of those.

Oh, and I went into Hobby Lobby to buy one skein of yarn and discovered they had a bunch of yarn on sale 75% off. Oh my goodness! Called hubby on the cell because he was in another part of the store and told him to bring me a buggy, lol. I cleaned up on it, and it was mostly cotton, which I love to work with. Then a couple of days later, I went to Joann's to use my 60% coupon there and found they also have yarn on sale, although not quite as good as Hobby Lobby. I happened to have a 20% off coupon good on anything, so added to the clearance prices, I got some more yarn at awesome prices. On top of that, I had some friends gift me with three bags of yarn. I'm a happy crocheter!

 

[ReneeT]

What wonderful deals on the yarn; and what wonderful friends you have to think of you and what you enjoy doing, Deena!

I popped in to Walgreen's on my way home last night to pick up more candy for the goody bag at work plus to stock the football game tote; Nestle products were on sale for 39 cents, so I purchased $25 worth; gained 5000 points by doing so ($5 worth) and believe that the game tote is set for the upcoming home games. I'll hit CVS later this week to add some 2/$1 Hershey products to the goody bag - I go on vacation 9/4-19, so it will have to last a while.

Plans for tomorrow include hitting the pool with the neighbor lady around 0700; then doing some work in the gardens if they are dry enough to get in to - I've got lots of bell peppers I need to do something with; I might see if there is any ground beef on sale and use it to make filling for stuffed peppers, then prep said peppers for the freezer. It is supposed to be fairly cool (for August, anyway) with a forecast of 79* for a high tomorrow, so it shouldn't be too hot to have the oven on to bake a few for supper as well. I like to chop up any leftover stuffed peppers and use them in spaghetti or other pasta sauce - goulash has been sounding good lately, so that might be on the menu Friday; it will be good to carry in my work lunch as I work Sat/Sun/Mon this holiday weekend. I also need to finish canning peaches and make a couple batches of peach jam before I head back to work. I have a canning class to teach some time while I am on vacation, so I will have to start getting the house prepped for that as well... Busy, busy

 

[ReneeT]

Gardens were still too soggy to get in to yesterday - and it was just as well as I ended up having to go get the boys after school and keep them until bedtime as daughter had needed to reschedule some clients and thus had to work late; I'd have been too worn out to keep up with them

Neighbor lady pointed out a garage sale sign as we were on our way to the pool this morning, so we stopped by the sale on our way home - $29 later, I had accumulated a stash for the clothing pantry at work: 15 pair of sweatpants/pj pants, 11 t-shirts, 5 fleece pullovers, and 3 large zippered tote bags; plus a pair of barn boots for younger grandson and a brand new with tags long sleeve t-shirt for myself. I am able to use this type of donation in the part of our annual evaluation at work where it asks what type of volunteer/community work we have done - I work for a non-profit hospital/health system, so they are big on volunteerism.

I snagged daughter's laundry hamper on my way out of her house last night, have load one (which includes my work clothes) in the dryer, load two in the soak cycle, and load three ready to go in when that one is done. As soon as I can switch load two over to the dryer, I need to run in to town to the bank, fill the van with gas, hit Dollar General to make use of their $5/$25 coupon that is good today only, and pick up a couple of items at the grocery store. Then it will be back home to finish up laundry and take a short nap - the football game is an hour and a half away from home so I probably won't be getting home tonight until 10:30 or 11pm so will need a bit of extra rest.

So looking forward to being off work for 16 days after Monday; maybe I'll be able to catch up on things around here a bit!

Take care all; wishing you all a safe and enjoyable Labor Day weekend!

 

[Seeker22]

All the political posts on Main rub my fur the wrong way and make me feel powerless to change anything. I like to come over to the other side of TB2K where the canners and crocheters and knitters and real moms live. The other stuff just makes me sad.

This week was all about canning spaghetti sauce. I had enough Roma tomatoes out of the garden to do the deed, but the crockpot wasn't getting hot enough. I poured 18 cups worth into the other crockpot and was rewarded with that wonderful aroma when the (homegrown) herbs started to cook into the tomatoes. Repeat until all the Romas get used. I am hoping for another harvest before snow flies, but I am happy with what I have now. Live within your harvest, and all that.

DH brought me a huge blue enamel stock pot from the Thrift. He paid $5 and it is in perfect condition. I already have several, but don't mind making room for one more.

I grabbed a garbage bag of really good vintage yarn at Thrift this week. There is a ball of blaze orange large enough for a cap. I want to make sure these crazy hunters know DH is not a deer. Town is crazy busy already with all the city slickers setting up hunting camps. I think Dove season will be a little bump in the road on the way to Deer season.

I still have to can some old meat from the freezer. I'll start on that today.

I have a little more Mohair to wash and card. Might as well get that done while I still have hot weather. I like lettng the sun heat my water, and dry out the fiber.

I have several crocheted shawls almost finished. The afghan for the couch is halfway done, I work a little every day and am surprised at how it adds up in a month. Have a blessed and safe holiday, everyone.